Warriors Of The Lost
by Shadow knight1121
Summary: We are the reason evil no longer controls their lives. We are not afraid to cross that line and we do not murder men like animals. We are not heroes, we are warriors of peace, the assassins who hide in the shadows and the bringer of hope to others. Whatever we were died when our family died. No family, no past and no purity. We are the Warriors of The Lost. No More oc's.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Five Years Later.**

**Authors Note: Hello everyone welcome back to the Shadow Warriors fight. I hope I get some new readers and I hope my old ones are still reading. I hope you enjoy the start of my next story. Also, I am accepting a few new heroes or villains. Here is what i would need if you are interested.**

**Name/Alias**

**Clothes, both street clothes and hero wardrobe.**

**Back story**

**Hair color, eye color, gender and nationality. Aliens and demi gods also acceptable.**

**Powers, Abilities, equipment and weaknesses.**

**Thank you all and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Justice League.**

* * *

Jayden stared at the two for a half an hour loving the beautiful sight before him. His daughter Shauna had come in late at night and crawled up and snuggled against her mom Ally. Their cheeks were pressed against each other while the two snored softly. Jayden pressed a kiss to each of their heads before stepping out of bed.

His attention was drawn to soft mumbles at the end of his bed. He slipped his black robe on and tied on the waist band into a knot and walked over to the crib at the foot of his bed. He smiled down at small baby boy dressed in his blue pj's. He smiled while nibbling on his little fingers.

"Hey buddy." Jayden cooed, gently picking his son up. "Guess the ladies still need their beauty sleep huh Jake?" Jake nodded as he reached out and grabbed his daddy's cheeks with his little hands.

Jayden went out to the kitchen and set Jake down in his high chair before turning on the coffeepot and grabbing Jake's bottle from the fridge and set it in the bottle warmer. As he waited for their morning beverages he let out a heavy sigh when he saw how normal his kitchen looked.

If this were five years ago there would be soda cans and junk food wrappers lying around along with multiple dirty dishes. Then there was the living room, it was once crowded with his young companions who were camping out there playing video games but now it was neat and tidy.

When Ally had given birth to Shauna, Jayden knew he had to hang up his coat and put down his sword. Everyone else wanted their normal lives as well.

Flynn and Hilary got married shortly after Jayden and Ally and moved out to their own apartment. Sam and Kris along with Sarah and Zack went to college together out in Gotham University.

Maria and her boyfriend Leon moved in together. Leon took a bullet for Gordon a few years back but managed to take down the gunman Black Mask and arrested him. He's been Gordon's go to guy ever since.

Mark Kyle moved in with his girlfriend Carmen and is now Jayden's chief of security. He and his sister Selina were still very close to this day. Thomas and Christine also lived together and worked separate jobs. Thomas helps Flynn in engineering and special weapons defense systems and Christina works at Gotham General as a professional doctor. Jayden doesn't know what happened to Marcas and Ronin.

Marcas was still battling the Shadow Man last time he had heard and Ronin just disappeared one day. His wife Kei doesn't even know what happened to him.

Everyone else wasn't so quick to give it all up though. Phoenix along with his girlfriend Theodosia and his twin brother Frost, all moved to Tokyo to uphold their own brand of justice. They still check in every now and again. Jayden worries that they might be getting into some sort of trouble though. Whenever Blaze and Jayden talk Blaze is always short on the phone and always gives him the same story making Jayden wonder what was going on over there.

Then there was Dusk and Star, Jayden's brother and sister. He hasn't spoken to them since they joined the Justice League. Their last meeting didn't end well.

Jayden shook his head in annoyance as he tried to shake off the nagging feeling in his head. The warmer for Jake's bottle dinged and Jayden quickly walked over and retrieved it before gently lifting up his boy.

He eased the bottle into Jake's mouth and smiled as the small infant suckled down the formula. After a few minutes the bottle was empty and Jayden patted his sons back causing him to let out a loud burp.

"That's my boy." Jayden said as the two shared a heartfelt laugh.

"Well here are my men." A soft voice said.

Jayden turned and smiled when he saw Ally standing in her blue silk robe. Shauna stood behind her wearing her pink pj's rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"And here are my girls." Jayden greeted.

He walked over and the two leaned in and shared a small kiss before Jayden handed her Jake. Jayden then lifted Shauna up and hugged her tight to his chest.

"Hey starlight, how are you?" Jayden asked. Shauna nuzzled her cheek against her father's chest before looking up at him. Her blue and green eyes matched her father's own pair. Jayden started to panic realizing that her own Adonis power was on the verge of awakening.

"I'm fine daddy." She smiled.

"Yeah, um listen I know you don't like it baby, but it's time for your shot." Jayden said with tension in his voice. Shauna gave him an uneasy look as did Ally.

"Daddy I don't want too, they hurt." She complains.

"I know, but we need to do it." Jayden reassured with a stern voice. He knew she didn't like it, but he couldn't risk her powers being triggered.

Jayden started giving her the shots when she was three, making it difficult for her and putting her in danger of herself. She was still a child and anything could make her angry or sad enough to set off her Adonis power. He wouldn't want her to hurt anyone and be labeled a monster to everyone around her.

Jayden carried her to his office and set her down on his desk. Jayden walked over to the desk drawer and pulled out a cigar box filled with the suppressants. He pulled one out and moved over to his daughter and took her right arm. He gave her a reassuring look before sticking the needle into her forearm and injecting the suppressant into her body. Once the needle was empty Jayden stared into her eyes and sighed in relief when he saw her green eye turned blue.

"There now you are good to go." Jayden cheered as he started tickling her tummy.

"Daddy, stop!" Shauna giggled uncontrollably as Jayden continued tickling her. Jayden lifted her over his shoulder and continued tickling her waist while carrying her back into the kitchen. He set her down next to her brother before turning to his wife and wrapping his arms around her slender waist.

"Morning." He hummed into her neck. He knew she was smiling as she prepared breakfast.

"Hello." She giggled back. "Hey don't forget we're going to have dinner with Flynn and Hilary tonight."

Of course it was Sunday, he and Flynn always have dinner on Sundays. Jayden would have to drop the kids off at Barbra's house tonight. She didn't mind though she loved the kids.

The coffee pot was ready and Jayden went and poured himself and Ally a cup. He then walked into the living room and sat down in his favorite armchair. Once he was settled he grabbed the remote and turned the TV onto the news. He wasn't surprised to see Gotham's Vicki Vale in front of an abandoned building.

"_In breaking news the street gang known as the Mutants has gotten into another shootout with the Maroni family while another group has held twelve year old Jeremy Wilson hostage demanding ten thousand dollars in ransom. The parents paid the money, though unfortunately the mutants sent poor Jeremy back dead."_

Jayden looked at the picture of the smiling child with a disgruntled look. _'How could those sick bastards do that to the child and the family?'_ He thought.

Batman should be here but he and the rest of the Justice League have been battling the Light. The Light, Vandal Savage has been hidden since that whole Reach incident eleven years ago. There was still no sign of him, but his agents have been causing all sorts of havoc for the JLA. Once the crooks in Gotham realized that there was no Batman they started to spread like wildfire.

These Mutants for example were mistaken for a group of angry kids, but they proved the media wrong. They were criminals, rapists, killers, thieves and anyone else who was angry at the world. Everyone wants to find a place where they belong and too few would take them. Jayden had to chuckle at the thought of them being similar to the Shadow Warriors.

And there it was.

Whenever he had thought of his days of past he would start feeling his inner demons beginning to surface. He had to suppress that feeling by remembering he had a wife and children. He also had to think of Sam and the rest of the kids who were off living normal lives. He often wondered if they were thinking the same thing he was.

(!)

Sam and Kris were studying for their college courses along with Sarah and Zack in their shared apartment living room. They had decided to rent the place and support their own means without relying on Jayden all the time. Jayden paid for their tuition but they paid their bills and the rent.

"Okay, I ordered the pizza it will be here in twenty minutes." Zack informed as he sat down on the couch next to Sarah across from Sam and Kris.

"Okay, I left the money on the table." Sam said. It had been five years since he and Vulcan separated. When he split up from the warriors he knew that he had to give up Vulcan's Gauntlets. He didn't want to be tempted to go out and fight crime again. He had hidden Vulcan well all throughout high school, but it was tiring work.

Sarah wasn't having much luck controlling her inner demons as well. Whisper was as much a part of her as Vulcan was to Sam. Zack would notice her twitching and muttering to herself as if she were trying to ignore someone. Whisper was always with her doing what she did best, whispering.

Zack and Kris both looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. They loved their other halves as much as they loved them, but they didn't feel like they were as connected as they were when they were Shadow Warriors.

"Are you alright Sam?" Kris asked.

"Hmm, oh yeah I'm fine." Sam reassured with a false chuckle. His false expression fell when he noticed the same looks on Sarah and Zack's faces. "Who am I kidding, do you guys miss it?"

Sam's question took them by surprise they weren't expecting him to be so bold about it. Sarah let out a heavy sigh and dropped her pencil before rubbing her temples.

"I haven't stopped hearing Whisper's voice since the moment my parents died." She whimpered. "And ever since I cased her up I haven't stopped hearing her since." Zack quickly wrapped his arms around her and she willingly rested her head against his chest. "I don't know what to do."

"Me either." Sam grunted in defeat. "I mean I want to live a normal life." He looked over at Kris with honesty in his eyes. "I want to go to college and stress out of my assignments and get a job and start a family." He reached over and collected Kris's hands in his. "I wanted that since those days of living in the sewers, but deep down I feel like I'm just lying to myself."

"You're not lying to yourself Sammy." Kris reassured squeezing his hand tighter.

"Then why do I feel like such an asshole?" Sam asked, not expecting an answer.

"Because you don't want to admit that you can't live without it." Zack said out of the blue earning a few stares from the group. "You know it's been five years since I ran at the speed of light and I don't even know if I can do it anymore."

"I haven't even touched a bow and arrow." Kris chuckled bitterly. "Maybe we've spent so long wishing for normal lives that we never thought about what we would do with our former lives. I think it takes more to get rid of our past than to just lock it up in a chest, stow it away and pretend it never happened."

"So what do we do?" Sarah asked weakly as she silently wept into Zack's shirt. The doorbell rang and Sam quickly grabbed the money and walked over to the living room door. He was greeted by the pizza man and quickly paid him off before closing the door and setting the box down on the coffee table.

"First we eat then we worry about our past." Sam said while opening the box and pulling out a fresh made slice of pizza. Everyone soon joined him and after a few minutes they were soon lost in their own little world trying to ignore the life they had once known.

(!)

Out in one of Gotham's exclusive nightclubs Mark and Carmen were on a double date with Maria and Leon dancing the night away. Thanks to Mark's employment at Warney-Tech and Jayden's ownership of the club they were able to get in avoiding the long wait in line.

"Woo!" Maria squealed as Leon swung her around. Mark and Carmen were at the bar sipping booze before the two finally finished. Everyone cheered and clapped as they shared a quick kiss.

"Those two are made for each other." Carmen giggled. Mark had to agree with that. The two then stared into each other's eyes before kissing one another. Mark ran his fingers through her hair and smiled gently at her. "Got something on your mind Mr. Kyle?"

"Just you." Mark chuckled.

Right before they could continue Leon and Maria joined them at the bar forcing the two lovers to hold off on their make out session.

"It's nice having a friend who is a playboy billionaire." Maria giggled while Leon buried his face in her neck. They would never take advantage of Jayden's good grace, but he never denied his friends fun times and sunshine. They have done as much for him as he did for them in his time of need. What was the harm in letting in the club and drink for free?

Mark slipped his finger into Carmen's hand and she immediately felt a dark energy surge through her. She looked over at Mark and saw that sad look in his eyes. Feeling her eyes on him he let out a sigh and looked over at her.

"Yes my beloved?" Mark asked.

"Are you okay?" Carmen asked. "You've been distant lately."

"A kid was kidnapped a few days ago. He was held ransom before being murdered…after his family paid off the ransom." He deadpanned. Carmen looked apologetic feeling partially responsible. Mark felt this dread and wrapped his arm around her trying to comfort her. "Hey don't give me that look. I gave that life up to be with you."

"You patrolled the area he was kidnapped though didn't you?" She muttered she didn't even know if he heard her over the loud music.

"Yeah…" He whispered.

Mark and Carmen were quickly dragged out onto the dance floor by Maria and Leon. Maria started dancing with Mark and Leon with Carmen. Mark laughed when he saw that Maria had the same look in his eyes.

"I take it you are getting the same repressed feelings as me?" Mark asked while Maria grinded on him.

"Yeah, Leon and Gordon are doing their best but it isn't good enough." Maria pouted while Mark spun her around. "Sometimes I just want to jump out and use my magic and make it all go away."

"We can't we've been out of the game so long that we would draw a lot of unwanted attention towards us." Mark explained.

"Yeah I know that whole truce thing." Maria grunted.

When the Shadow Warriors started to lay low, the Justice League had to convince the politicians and general public that the Shadow Warriors had been dealt with. They said they transferred Shadow to another prison planet and left the remaining warriors to work things out for themselves. This allowed the cops and government officials to back off.

"I miss it Mark." Maria muttered.

"Me too Maria, me too." Mark sighed.

(!)

"_In other news today marks the five year anniversary of the Shadow Warriors retirement." _The news reporter said. _"While the reports say that the infamous assassins were arrested and are being held in a secret prison even though there was no official trial or evidence to support that theory. Others speculate that they are in hiding after being accused of crimes they did not commit. Wherever they are here's hoping they are living safe normal lives."_

"Ha, you have no idea sister." Hilary laughed as she downed her third glass of champagne. She was ready for her fourth before Flynn snatched the glass from her hand.

"That's enough love." Flynn chuckled. "So how about you two, is retirement going as good for you as it is for us?" Flynn looked across the table and gave Ally and Jayden a lopsided grin.

"It's not about us Flynn it's about the kids." Jayden chuckled.

They were currently sitting in one of Jayden's high class restaurants seated next to the window overlooking Gotham. The sun had long since set and the lights from the car and buildings sparkled through the darkness. Jayden was sitting there staring out into the darkness of the night before Flynn shook him out of it.

"Jayden." Flynn said getting his attention.

"Hmm, yes what is it?" Jayden asked.

"I wanted to know if you've spoken to Jason recently."

"No, I heard he went out to Metropolis." Jayden said uncharacteristically. "Him, Arsenal, Starfire and Leonae have been trying to clean up where ever they can."

"You know I meant the other Jason." Flynn deadpanned. Jayden knew he meant Dusk he just didn't want to bring up bad memories during dinner. He downed his champagne and looked his friend in the eye.

"Actually it's Jeremy, Jeremy Shepard and no I haven't." Jayden snapped.

"Can you blame him," Hilary asked rhetorically earning a disgruntled look from Jayden. Ally placed a gentle hand on his shoulder in an effort to calm him down. "You hated him for joining the JLA and you removed his Adonis from his system."

"Hey I gave it to him!" Jayden gritted through his teeth. "I wasn't about to let him take what was mine over to the JLA."

"I thought we were on good terms with them?" Flynn asked.

"Just cause we'll work with them in times of crisis doesn't mean I forgive them for all they did to us. Especially with that mind fuck orb that Megan used."

"Yeah I hear ya, still I don't know if we did the right thing by retiring. You know I'm still making improvements on my old suit." Flynn chuckled.

"Yeah so have I. Check this little number out." Jayden held up his arm and flicked his wrist back. Everyone jumped back when a black five inch needle poked through the bottom of Jayden's hand. "Pretty cool huh, a hidden blade literally hidden in my wrist."

"And why the hell would you ever need this?" Ally said loud enough for everyone in the restaurant to hear.

"Relax." Jayden snapped. "It's just for safety purposes. In case I don't always have a gun at the ready."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Hilary said as she lifted her ankle onto the edge of the table. Her dress raised up her thigh to the hem of her stocking, revealing her small handgun. "I go to sleep with this."

"We are always going to be afraid of a simple life, aren't we?" Flynn said with a grim look on his face.

No one said anything else and left the restaurant soon after. When Jayden and Ally got home, after picking up the kids from Aunt Barbra's house, they soon turned in for the night.

Well, not everyone.

Jayden was flipping through the news while scrolling through his iPhone, simultaneously. He was looking up known criminals who had escaped, got out on bail and had killed recently. He could feel his sanity slipping away as his inner demons clawed away at him.

Every damn day there was always something going wrong, and Jayden just had to sit there and watch.

"_Trouble sleeping?"_

Jayden remembered that voice clearly from five years ago, Shadow.

"_It's like you said five years ago, I can't live without you, and you can't live without me."_ He remembered those words clearly from five years ago, and how much a fool he was for ignoring it. "_I think we've both been cooped up long enough, what do you say?"_

For the first time in five years, the veins in Jayden's face glowed amber.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Justice League.**

* * *

A woman walking down the street with a bag of groceries starts to walk faster when she feels something or someone watching her. She quickens her pace while trying to control her breathing, before being pulled into a dark alleyway.

"Well, look what we got here." A gruff looking thug said. He held a switchblade in his hand and slowly approached the woman. "Time to get nasty."

The woman let out a shriek, but so did the thug. When she looked back up at where the thug was standing, a man cladded in black was holding the thug by his face with only one hand. The man emitted an amber glow before exploding the man brains from the inside. The woman screamed in horror before the man disappeared into the night.

At the same time it took for him to kill that one thug, another evil was taking place. A low life pimp was dragging a poor girl, who couldn't have been more than fifteen, by her hair and pushed up against a taxi.

"I told you girl, you don't leave until I say you can leave." The pimp snapped as he threw her into the back seat of the car. The driver turned back and snarled at the pimp.

"Hey, I just cleaned this heap!" He snapped.

"Man, just shut up and drive." The pimp said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple hundred dollar bills, before throwing them at the driver. The driver took the money and counted it before putting it in his coat pocket.

The pimp then continued his cruel torture, pulling out a syringe full of lord knows what. He slowly lowered the needle to her neck, but stopped when something landed on the top of the car. The pimp let out an impatient grunt and pulled out a custom made forty five from his coat.

He rolled down the window of the taxi and stuck his arm out, aiming blindly into the night. In one swift motion his hand was now on the ground, still holding the pistol tightly. He screamed in pain for a brief moment before two hands ripped through the roof of the car and grabbed onto the pimp.

The girl quickly ran out of the car as fast as she could, hearing her former pimp scream until he was suddenly silenced. Meanwhile, the taxi driver was frantically trying to start his cab, but was having no luck. He jumped when he heard a gentle tapping against his window. He looked up and froze when he saw the man cladded in black, his sword dripping with blood.

He opened the door and reached into the drivers coat and pulled out that money he was given. The man held it out towards his face and in a flash turned it into ash. The figure shook its head and walked into the shadows of the night leaving the cab driver in his now wreaked car.

While that was happening the police were in a shootout with Black Mask's gang. The beat cops were overwhelmed by the gang's firepower, as they were armed with military grade hardware, while the cops were armed with standard issue handguns.

An old veteran cop and a new rookie were hiding in an alleyway, while the gang and SWAT teams fought it out.

"Dammit, I'm running out!" The rookie said, loading in his last clip.

"Just hang on when I see our moment we'll make a break for it!" The senior cop shouted. He aimed his gun around the corner and blind fired at the thugs, but was having no luck hitting them.

The two thought they were done for, until they heard screaming. The two were hesitant to look, but they managed to slowly lean out from their cover and see what was causing so much hell.

All of the black mask thugs were dead except for one, who was currently being held up by his throat by an unknown assailant. The veteran cop knew who the person was from all the nights he failed chasing him.

"Who the hell is he?" The rookie asked.

"That's Shadow." The vet said. "I heard he was laying low."

Shadow held the shaking man up to his face and glared into his eyes.

"Where is Black Mask?" Shadow growled.

"I can't tell you that man, he'll kill me!" The thug whimpered. He let out a yelp when Shadow slammed him up against a wall.

"What makes you think I won't?" Shadow said in a low voice. The thug was hesitant for a moment before spilling everything he knew about mask.

"He's been laying low since he ripped off a former business partner of his." The thug said. "He's hiding out in one of his old storage apartments downtown. His address is in my phone."

Shadow grabbed the crooks phone from his coat pocket and pocketed it, before delivering his fist into his face knocking him out cold. Shadow heard a gun cock and turned around to see the approaching SWAT team.

Not only did he have the remainder of the cops to deal with, he also had half of the Gotham P.D to deal with. They were slowly closing in, their sirens roaring through the night, cutting off his second escape route.

"You're blocked in pal, just give up and we won't hurt you." The SWAT captain warned.

Shadow remained silent and walked over to a nearby alleyway. The cops arrived soon after and scrambled, covering each and every exit.

"Poor bastard, he just gave up without a fight." The captain boasted. He pulled out a megaphone ready to read him his rights, but all that came out was static.

He was then blinded by a pair of headlights at the end of the alley. Everyone looked at the oncoming lights appearing from the shadows revealing Shadow's jet bike. He flipped off the cops and quickly flew away into the night.

The SWAT captain remained still as the veteran beat cop approached him. "Looks like he still had some fight left in him, huh?"

The captain said nothing and just walked away with what little pride he had left.

Shadow scouted across the rooftops to the tenement building across Black Mask's hideout, shouldering a sniper rifle along the way. He pulled out his sniper rifle and set up shop at the edge of the building. He connected a small tripod device at the end of his barrel and took aim, looking through the scope for Mask.

He saw Mask sitting at his desk smoking a cigar through the scope of his rifle. His gun was a bolt action so it would definitely have enough power to burst through his window and through his skull.

He breathed in and out steadying his heart rate, his aim was precise and he was ready for the kill. He was suddenly tackled to the ground and felt a heavy fist slam into his face, causing his vision to be disoriented. Shadow looked up and was shocked to see a dark suited man, which he mistook for Ronin at first, but realized it was something else.

Shadow knew he was wearing a special type of Nanosuit. It was black on the whole body but red around the edges of his boots, wrists and chest. His head was covered in a helmet with a red visor and silver mouthpiece covering his face. Shadow grunted when he heard him laughing through his helmet.

"Sorry man, but this one is mine." The man said through his voice modulator, as he walked over to Shadow's rifle. He took aim, but was blasted back when a bolt of electricity struck his arm.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Shadow grunted, pulling out his sword.

"The last person you want to screw with." The man chuckled, pulling out his own black double edged sword.

The two lunged at each other clashing blades against one another. Sparks flew upon each strike each with the desire to kill. Shadow swiped his leg under his opponents, knocking him on his ass. Shadow quickly moved in for the kill, but the assailant raised his wrist and blocked with a hidden blade that popped out of his gauntlet.

"Not bad." Shadow commented.

The assailant pushed back and swung at him with his sword, missing by a few inches. Shadow stood his ground as the man sheathed his sword and raised his right hand, drawing another blade from his gauntlet.

"You ain't seen anything yet."

His blades started to glow red, as a humming noise emitted from them as well. Shadow's eyes widened under his mask and the assailant started swinging his arms and body around wildly. Shadow knew those daggers were extremely lethal and coursing with energy.

He ducked underneath one blade while leaping away from the other. The assailant swung fast and fierce not letting up for a moment. Shadow was soon backed into a corner and was almost sliced in half, before he activated his powers.

The assailant smiled a smug grin under his mask and sliced down only to cut nothing but air. He heard a noise from behind and reached into his belt for his throwing stars. He quickly turned and threw them at Shadow, but they were all broken apart by Shadow's batarangs.

The assailant was struck in his leg and shoulder and was quickly brought down. He slumped down against the edge of the building and pulled the batarang from his shoulder. He examined the blade closely and let out an amused chuckle.

"It's you isn't it, Shadow." The man said.

"Yes."

"I thought you were dead or retired."

"I thought I could use a little practice. After all, I don't want to get to rusty." Shadow stated. "Why are you here, and who are you?"

"Specter." He said. "And I am here because Black Mask screwed me over on my weapons deal. He stole everything from me and left me with nothing. So now I am going to take his pathetic life and get my weapons back."

Shadow looked down at the fallen warrior before him, he knew he couldn't just kill him for getting even, but he also couldn't just let him go. He also knew they had to run since Mask was well aware of their location due to the attack chopper closing in on them.

"C'mon we have to go."

Specter didn't waste any time and quickly staggered to his feet, supporting his weight on Shadow's shoulder as the two made their way to his Jet Bike. Shadow climbed on first and slipped his hands through the wrist bands around the bike handles. The straps automatically fastened his wrist, securing him on the bike as Specter climbed on the back.

"Um, how exactly do I keep myself from falling off?" He asked. Shadow pointed down at the foot rest on the sides of the bike.

"Place your feet flat against the foot rest, they'll get shackled to the bike, then wrap your arms around my waist tight." Shadow said while starting up his bike. Specter was still uncomfortable with the idea of wrapping his arms around another man's waist. Shadow rolled his eyes. "Either ride with me or take your chances with a military attack chopper."

Specter didn't need to think twice before sitting down at the back of the bike and placing his feet on the pads of the bike and his arms around Shadows waist. Specter felt the bike rise from the ground and his feet secured as Shadow turned around and flew away from the potential war zone.

After a half an hour Shadow flew to the only hiding spot he could think of, the mansion in the woods. The two hovered above the dark abandoned mansion for a minute, before Shadow activated the hidden hangar entrance in the backyard.

He slowly lowered his bike down and entered the hangar. He disengaged the safety straps around him and Specter and walked over to the terminal. Specter, still uneasy, slowly got off the bike and took in his surroundings in awe.

"Damn, this is a pretty cool set up you got here." Specter said.

"Thanks."

"So, if you are really Shadow, what happened to your Shadow Warriors?" Specter asked.

"Life happened, I had a wife with a kid on the way, and my current kids had high school and college to deal with. The rest of my team also had their lives and goals and let's not forget," He turned and looked Specter in the eye. "We were never actually popular with people to begin with." He turned back to his monitor and continued typing. "No one needs us."

"If no one needs you, then why did you come out after five years?"

"I was just letting off some steam. This will keep the other criminals at bay until Batman gets back." Shadow admitted in a shallow voice.

"What are you doing?" Specter asked.

"I was just typing away at the rest of the warriors. I'm letting them know that it was not a return, just an outburst."

"Don't want them getting the wrong ideas." Specter said.

"You can go now." Shadow said, not looking away from his computer. This only made Specter mad as he stomped over to Shadow, who was still typing away.

"You screw up my target, cost me my chance at revenge and think that I was just going to walk away like nothing happened?" He snarled.

"Yes, unless you want another beating."

"Yeah, try beating me without using your powers."

"I did."

"How do I know you're telling the-"

Specter was cut off when the red lights on Shadow's mask turned yellow and Specter was now levitated off the ground.

"This is how."

"Fuck you. You don't know what Mask did to me!"

"Your name is Alden Taylor; you are a weapons and tech designer out in Canada. You own a company called HAVEN and you are one of the few richest people in the world. One night you were offered a weapons deal by a false lead not knowing it was Black Mask. Once you arrived you were attacked and robbed, you only escaped due to your survival skills."

Specter looked at him with surprised eyes under his mask and realized he wouldn't need his mask anymore. He pulled off his mask and Shadow turned and saw Specter for the man he was, a twenty seven year old man with short dirty blonde hair. His blue eyes shined off the light in the room as Shadow removed his mask.

"I'm Jayden Warney of Warney-Tech." He introduced.

"So what happens now, Jayden?" Alden asked rhetorically.

"I don't know, just keep low and wait for Batman to come back." Jayden explained. "I just need to-"

He was cut off when the alarm went off on his computer. He quickly walked over to it and pulled up the police records. There was a tenement fire down in the slums. Jayden pulled up live camera feed from the Gotham news channel. The building was engulfed in flames while the victims were screaming to the top of their lungs and rubbing their eyes.

The camera then got a close up on one of the victims to show her bleeding out of her eyes. Jayden quickly rewind the vid and examined her mutilated eyes closer. He scowled at the vid and realized the cause of her injury. Those people weren't trying to rub the smoke from their eyes they were trying to claw their eyes out.

"That fire wasn't an accident." Jayden stated. "It was an experiment by Crane."

"What, how do you know that?" Alden asked, examining the vid.

"Crane's past victims have been known for clawing their eyes out while under the influence. It's a psychotic breakdown from his fear toxin. You can't fear something if you can't see it."

"See no evil." Alden said. "So what now?"

"Find Crane and kill him."

"Works for me."

"Fine, but don't drag me down. I need to drop your ass off in Gotham anyways." Jayden snarled as the two pulled their mask back on. The two climbed onto Shadow's bike and quickly made their way to the fire.

It took them a good twenty minutes, but the two were now hovering above the smoking ruins of the tenements. The smoke made it hard for them to see, but their masks protected them from the smoke inhalation. Shadow used the scanners in his lenses and did a thorough examination of the smoke to confirm his suspicions.

"I was right, Crane was here." Shadow stated. "There are traces of his fear toxin in the smoke. Now our only question is where Crane is?"

"He's in Arkham Asylum, and he hasn't escaped in over two years." Specter stated. "This wasn't Crane."

Shadow was puzzled, _'who else could have done this if not Crane?'_ Shadow thought.

Then he noticed that the pheromones from the toxin were trailing off towards the slums. Shadow took his bike out of hover and flew over the trail towards the source.

The eventually cornered a young man who was dressed in a black hoodie and blue jeans with grey sneakers. Shadow looked down to see trails of smoke all around him, but his goggles traced them as the fear toxin. Specter pulled out his glock ready to shoot him, but Shadow stopped him.

"What's your name?" Shadow asked.

The boy looked to be eighteen when he looked up at Shadow. His green eyes showed through his messy black hair.

"Edward, Edward Crane." He said in a shaky voice. Shadow was surprised for a brief moment, but he quickly shrugged it off.

"Why did you drug those people?" Shadow asked.

"They were criminals, thieves, rapist and whores." Edward grunted. "They were no more innocent than you and especially him." He nodded over to Specter. Specter chuckled at the remark.

"You!"

Everyone turned to see a pack of mutant gangbangers. They were dressed in their leather jackets and shaved heads cornering the trio in the alleyway. They were armed with Alden's military weapons which pissed him off even more.

"Those are my fucking guns!" He shouted.

Before he could attack, a huge burst of grey smoke blew past then and engulfed the mutant gangsters. They all started screaming to the top of their lungs in sheer horror and fell to their knees clawing out their eyes.

The two watched in curiosity as the smoke soon turned into Edward. He stood over the screaming members of the mutants with a sadistic smirk spread across of his face.

"This is great, now they are after you for revenge." Specter chuckled.

"I took out a few of them tonight. They were trying to kill a few cops." Shadow said.

"And now they will try and kill you." Edward stated. "An attack on one mutant is an attack on all of them."

"And they will burn this whole city down to get them. They do have my guns after all." Specter said as he knocked out a few of the mutants.

"And these psychos recruit anyone, whether it's a trained serial killer or a kid with a grudge against his father." Edward said, Shadow was still in deep thought about his actions tonight. "They have the anger and the guns and not to mention the army, what are you going to do?"

Shadow still remained silent and in a fit of rage he stormed over to him and turned him around. When he faced the assassin he saw his cellphone in his hand. He walked around him and looked over his shoulder and down at the phone's screen. A smug grin broke out on his face when he read the message on the screen.

'_Shadow Warriors: Redemption.' _


	3. Chapter 3: Just Like Last Time

**Chapter 3: Just Like Last Time**

**Authors Note: Okay, okay, I appreciate the oc's, but no more I am closing the list. I like to thank everyone for your reviews and ideas.**

**On another note, I saw Catching Fire today and it was awesome! If you do not know what Hunger Games: Catching Fire is then, stop reading my rinky dink story and go read those books. Okay, now enjoy this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the justice league.**

* * *

Early that morning, Sam looked down at his gauntlets with a solemn look on his face. He knew that it was his choice to give up being a demigod, but he also knew that he couldn't keep giving up his powers whenever he wanted.

If he put these back on there would be no going back. He slowly reached down and picked up one of his gauntlets and felt the presence of Vulcan flow through his very soul. He felt content with himself.

It was almost like every thought of doubt had left his mind as if it was never even there. It was at that moment he knew this is what he wanted. He slowly slipped the metal over his arms and felt them seal around his shoulders. He cringed when they grafted into his skin and started to glow dark orange the metal started twisting and morphing into a new form. Glyph's started glowing and a low hum emitted from the glyph's in a forgotten language.

The fingers were now medieval like a knight's armor and colored sleek black. Sam chuckled at the new design, thinking how bad ass they looked.

"_I figured I could use a change of look too, Sam."_

"Good to have you back, Vulcan." Sam smiled.

"_Good to be back."_

Sam looked over to see Zoom, Artemis and Whisper dressed up in their wardrobe from their glory days. Zoom, in his grey leather pants and jacket with his domino mask. Whisper, her blue trench coat and hat with her black jumpsuit underneath, she checked her obsidian desert eagle before holstering it in her jacket. Artemis, well the new Artemis, she was wearing her green vest that cut off at her stomach along with her green cargo pants and black boots. She held her bow in her left hand and looked over at Sam.

"Ready when you are." She said. Sam smiled as he put his motorcycle goggles on.

"Let's go."

(!)

In his apartment, Mark sat on the edge of his bed in his old army gear, the same he wore when he was Surge. He looked back at the sleeping beauty that was his girlfriend and caressed her cheek softly. He stood up on his feet and pulled out his small metal disk. He gave it a little juice and watched the disk expand four feet wide and stepped on it before levitating in midair and hovering out through his bedroom window. He closed the window and flew off towards the old mansion hideout.

Along the way he heard a familiar howl through the night. He mistook it for a plane, but realized he wasn't high enough for a jet to be this close to the ground. He started to get paranoid when he started to hear it coming up right behind him.

"It's been awhile since we've just flown around like this, hasn't it?"

Surge looked over his shoulder to see Thanatos flying right behind him. He smiled at the cyborg and gave him a thumb's up.

"Great to be back, it's been a while since I went out like this." Surge chuckled.

"I hear you."

The two looked over to see Mystico flying right next to them.

"I should have known Shadow would have croaked." She snickered. "I wonder how Ally took it."

"He didn't tell her yet." Surge said. "He jumped the gun and went out to let out some steam and ended up starting a war with the mutants. He also picked up a few people as well."

"One of them is known for being Crane's son and the other is a former arms dealer." Thanatos explained. "Okay, now do we know who else is coming?"

"Blaze and his small crew are still screwing around in Hong Kong so they won't be here. Then there is Gauntlet and his crew back at Gotham University, they'll be there."

"What about Red and Ronin?" Mystico asked.

"They are another story." Surge said. "We don't know where they are."

"What about Apollo?"

"She's done with that life. She is only concerned with her patients down at the hospitals." Thanatos said.

"We'll we're almost there, let's step it up." Surge said.

(!)

On the other side of Gotham, Flynn Anderson and his wife Hilary slept together in their large luxurious bed. Flynn slept with a smile on his face, but started to stir when he felt a presence start to crawl over him. He felt the mattress on both sides of his head compress down.

He smiled when he remembered the last time this had happened on Flynn's honeymoon with Hilary. He raised his hands up and stroked the wrists that were weighing down on him.

"Morning baby." He chuckled in his sleep.

"Morning, dick." A gruff voice said.

Flynn's eyes shot open and he was startled when he saw that it wasn't Hilary hovering above him, but his good friend Jayden, still dressed in his Shadow wardrobe. Flynn jumped and shoved him off the bed and turned to see-

"Alden?" Flynn exclaimed. Alden was lying on Hilary's side of the bed. A large smart ass grin plastered on his face.

"Hey, Flynn how's it going?" Alden asked playfully. Shadow looked at the two back and forth.

"You two know each other?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's my cousin," Flynn snarled. "On my mother's side."

"I thought your family was, you know…"

"Yeah, they were. Alden skipped out on the dinner before Bruce's plan fucked up in my face and cost me my whole damn family." Flynn snapped.

"He's mad at me because I got scared and ran away. Then he got even more pissed when he found out I was alive and hadn't contact him till I made my first mill." Alden snickered.

"You could have told me you were alive!" Flynn snapped. Alden was taken back and stomped towards his cousin, his smirk now replaced with a scowl. The two were now nose to nose and Jayden was cautious on whether or not to break the two up.

"I didn't even know you were alive, our whole damn family was slaughtered!" Alden snapped. "I was a kid and I was scared what the hell do you want from me?"

"I was there and I was covered in their blood, I still have nightmares. What I would have wanted was my cousin to be there with me, what I would have wanted is to not be alone for those past few years and what I would have wanted was for my last remainder of my family to not be a gun runner for Black Mask!"

"I didn't know, Jesus Mary and Joseph!" Alden exclaimed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. "I made a mistake, money is honey you know?"

Flynn let out a heavy sigh and ran his hands down his face. He then looked over at Shadow to see him checking his phone for messages.

"Jayden, what are you doing here?" He sighed.

"I am here to tell you that we're getting the team back together." He looked over at Alden, who was still sulking in the corner of the room. "With some added help of course."

"Jayden, you know if Batman find out about this, he'll have the whole damn-"

"JLA on my ass, I know." Shadow groaned. He then looked over at the bedroom window with an eccentric grin on his face. "Oh I know, let's ask him how he feels," Shadow opens the window and stick his head out. "Hey Batman, we're going to start up our clique again, you have any objections," Shadow cupped his ear as if he was expecting a response. "No okay, thank you. He said it's cool."

"Are you insane?" Flynn snapped. "You can't just do that Jayden!"

"Well, I just did. Come on Flynn you said it yourself, that you've been cooped up for far too long."

"Yeah and I also have my wife to think about!" Flynn said.

"Dude, she is already in her body armor and she has been cleaning her guns this whole time."

Flynn looked at him in disbelief. He quickly ran out of his bedroom and into the living room to see Hilary decked out in her body polishing her silver .45's. She looked over at Flynn and smiled.

"Morning love." She greeted with a smile. "There is coffee in the kitchen and I have your armor ready for you in your office."

Flynn was at a loss for words as he heard a faint chuckling from the bedroom doorway. Shadow and Alden were both looking at him with smug faces. Flynn shook his head in annoyance and pointed at Shadow.

"You better hope you know what you're getting into, because if Ally takes this the wrong way…you're fucked."

"I know."

A moment of silence past before Shadow heard Alden humming. He looked over to see a large grin on his face.

"So who is Ally?" Alden asked playfully.

"Off limits."

(!)

Back at the Warriors H.Q, everyone was sitting around the holographic map greeting each other after being so far apart for so long. Everyone was laughing and catching up on old times and just being the misfit dysfunctional family they were five years ago.

Shadow was the last to walk into the room. He smiled down at his friends and was happy to see them being themselves. Gauntlet was the first to notice Shadow, his face breaking out in a large grin.

"There he is ladies and gentlemen, our fearless leader, Shadow!" He all but cheered. Soon everyone else clapped and cheered at their honorable leader. Shadow raised his hands in gratitude and waited for everyone to settle down.

"Okay everyone," Shadow said in a calm manner. "Let's settle down and discuss why we are here."

"We're here to take back Gotham, right?" Zoom asked.

"Settle down." Thanatos said. "We are here to give it back to the people."

"Tom, Zack, please settle down." Shadow said. The two remained silent as Shadow had begun his explanation. "Now as many of you know, they JLA have been investigating the Light's whereabouts lately, and have left Gotham completely defenseless."

"Well, that wasn't very nice of them." Whisper said, uncharacteristically.

"No, it wasn't." Surge commented. "And we can't just let Gotham be taken by the criminals."

"Nope," Mystico said. "And we can't just wait for the Justice League to show up and save the day."

"So, I guess we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands." Hitgirl chuckled.

"Yeah but quick question." Artemis asked. "Where is the rest of the team?"

Everyone looked around and noticed that she was right. The crew that they had five years ago had been cut down in size. Breeze, Dusk, Red Crosshairs, Ronin, Theodosia, Apollo, Star and Phoenix were not here. Everyone soon looked to their leader for answers.

"Ally is at home with the kids, Dusk and Star as you may all know are a part of the Justice League." Shadow said in a bitter tone. "Apollo is living her life at the hospital and Phoenix and Red have led their own teams somewhere in the world. As for Ronin, I don't know."

"Well, we're going to need help." Reaper said.

"I know," Shadow gestured to the door. Specter and Edward both walked into the room and stood beside Shadow. "Everyone this is Specter and Frightmare. They are our newest members."

"Hey guys." Specter greeted.

"Hello." Frightmare greeted timidly.

"I've located a few more members for the team and," Shadow was interrupted when a holographic projection of Gotham bank popped up along with a police report. It was being robbed by a man and a group of armed thugs. Shadow smiled when the reports of unknown assailants were fighting against them. "Okay, I think we should get this ball rolling."

"You go on ahead, I know someone else who can help us." Gauntlet said. Jayden didn't have time to ask before he ran out of the war room. He would have to find out later as he was preoccupied with his current objective.

"Let's move out."

(!)

Meanwhile at Gotham Bank a man wearing a white suit and matching fedora was standing outside with a few of his men clad in black suits. This particular man was known as Logan Crow also known as Phantom. He pointed his gloved finger at the bank.

"Okay, in and out in five minutes." He ordered. His men quickly ran inside, armed with assault rifles and body armor.

They quickly took out the security guards and opened fired into the ceiling. They shouted out warnings and threats and started pushing the civilians down onto the floor. Everyone was on the floor cowering, all except a girl with blonde hair wearing a black t shirt and torn skinny jeans and another girl with the same brand of jeans and a black sweater. She was looking down on the ground shaking uncontrollably as her straight blonde hair covered most of her face.

One of the robbers walked up to the girl with the black shirt and tapped her shoulder. She turned revealing her grey-green eyes and pale face. She was wearing headphones with loud rock music playing loud enough for everyone to hear. She looked at the man confused.

"Yes?" She spoke in an English accent.

"You and your friend here need to get down or we'll put you down." He warned. The girl looked at the timid girl and shrugged her shoulders.

"She's not my friend. I don't have any friends anymore." She balled her hands into fist, a dark energy started to emit from them as the timid girl started to back away in fear. "They were murdered by monsters like you!"

With one swift punch to his face, the man was sent flying back across the bank before he was crashed into a wall. The impact had left the wall shattered, scaring the rest into attacking. They opened fired on the girl emptying every last bullet they had at her. The girl used the dark energy in her hands to conjure up a barrier deflecting the bullets away from her.

What she didn't know was that two of the robbers had snuck around her, preparing a couple of hand grenades. They hid behind the clerk's desk and pulled the pins out and quickly threw them at her. The girl panicked as she was unable to block the attack, but was soon stunned when the timid girl from before stood between her and certain death.

The grenades paused in midair, before being thrown back at the robbers. They panicked and screamed before a loud explosion erupted behind the desk, silencing their screams.

When the robbers had run out of bullets, the energy wielding girl quickly broke the barrier down into ten lark spikes and shot them into each and every crook. When the fighting had stopped and the civilians had cleared the bank the two girls were left alone just staring at each other.

"Hey, was that you who threw those grenades back at those two?"

"Y-Yes." She stuttered. "It's telekinesis."

"Well, cool I'm Evelyn, Evelyn Thompson." She said.

"Um, I am Estella Voltare, people call me Stella." She said holding out her hand. Evelyn shook her hand and made her way to the doors.

"C'mon let me get you home." She offered. Stella looked up at Evelyn, whose eyes narrowed at the girls strange eye color. Her eyes were dark blue and her pupils were dark silver. She was definitely not human, then again neither was Evelyn. "You're not from around here are you?"

Stella quickly pulled the hood from her sweater up and over her head covering her eyes. Being self-conscious she was clearly offended by Evelyn's blunt statement about her eyes. Feeling guilty, she quickly caught up with her ready to apologize when they were stopped by Phantom.

He aimed his handgun at the two with a sadistic smirk across his face. Evelyn's eyes narrowed at the man in white and clenched her fist while Phantom cleared his throat.

"Well, it appears you kids have just cost me my weekend getaway." Phantom chuckled. "No matter I was just trying to get attention."

The two girls were confused at first. That's when the sirens started echoing from a few blocks away. Evelyn looked down at the street and then back at Phantom.

"Well, you got your wish." She chuckled.

"Not theirs." Phantom chuckled.

Evelyn quickly ran towards Phantom ready to blast him with another bolt of energy. Phantom quickly fired at the girls, who quickly dodged the oncoming bullets. Evelyn hid behind a corner and aimed her hands at Phantom until a hovercraft flew down and knocked her on her butt.

She looked up in fear as the small craft aimed its guns at the young girl. Frozen in fear, she panicked since she didn't know if she could protect herself from that kind of fire power. She never did actually go one on one with an attack chopper.

Stella was also afraid as since she wasn't strong enough to stop the bullets. They both quickly closed their eyes expecting the worse as the guns opened fired. Bullets rained down on the two, but they never made their mark. The two looked up and were stunned to see a lone man standing between them and the chopper.

He was an African American man wielding a long dark green staff with a glowing blue orb at the end. The bullets were turning into dust upon contact with the man's magic. When the hovercraft had finally stopped shooting, the man started waving his staff around, morphing the dust into spikes and shooting it back at the aircraft.

The hovercraft moved out of the way quick enough to dodge the attacks as Phantom climbed aboard. The craft quickly made off with their tail between their legs leaving the three misfits alone.

The man turned to the two girls who stared at him in shock and awe. His head snapped back to the sirens, which were getting closer, and nodded his head over to an alley way. The two quickly followed, being led up a fire escape and onto a rooftop.

They all looked down from the roof watching the cops scurrying around like insects making arrests. Evelyn looked over at the dark skinned man who had a serious expression on his face.

"So…who are you?" She asked.

He turned to answer when someone else did it for him.

"Xander Thompson." Shadow said appearing from the shadows. He looked over at Evelyn. "Same name, no relation. Expert in the dark arts and trained by Zatanna and her father."

"Who are you?"

"Someone who can give you what you want and what you need."

"And what is that?" Stella asked, her blue and silver eyes meeting Shadow's blue and green mismatched eyes. It was at that moment where she didn't feel as much of a freak as she did a few minutes ago.

"A place where you can belong."


	4. Chapter 4: Only Way to Know

**Chapter 4: Only Way to Know**

**Authors Note: Hello everyone I am glad you are enjoying this story and the characters, yes I am ripping of DKR, but that is only because it is an awesome movie/story. Now let us continue on with the story. Also, I will continue with the injustice story featuring some of your characters. And before you ask some of them will be bad guys because I don't have enough bad guys. Okay and 3…2…1…GO!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League.**

* * *

Gauntlet went down to the down to the slums of Gotham where he knew he would find the team's next recruit. Everywhere he looked he saw someone who looked like a killer a junkie or both. The perfect place to find a would be hero trying to bring a little light to the darkest part of Gotham.

The explosion at a nearby crack den proved his assumption and he quickly made his way to the run down building. Blue flames were slowly turning the building to ash. Any normal person wouldn't be able to survive the intense heat and flames.

Good thing this person wasn't normal.

A man slowly stepped out through the front door wearing a single piece of armor on his right arm. The frame was white with green on the joints of the arm and yellow on the trim. He wore a white hoodie with black pants and his face was concealed by a golden angel mask.

Gauntlet clapped his hands getting his attention as he stepped over to the pyromaniac.

"Well, nice to know you've gotten a hang of your powers." Gauntlet said, as the two now stood face to face with each other.

"You know I heard that your boss was stirring up some trouble with the mutants last night. I only knew it was a matter of time before you started to get involved." The man said.

"Yeah, and I knew after what happened with your Chainarm and that green energy project I knew I had to come find you."

"You heard about that huh?" He said.

"We all heard about it." A new voice said.

The two looked over to see Reaper stepping towards them.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"Reaper and you are Gordon Jackson, Sam's half-brother on your father's side." Flynn then pulled up a holographic screen from his wrist cuff. "You were an orphan at age five, until you were adopted by a CEO of a collection companies that specialize in green technology. You became the perfect poster child, which led up to you being a perfect figurehead in the battle for clean energy."

"Up until an incident that got his fired, no pun intended, and forced him to take up vigilante work." Gauntlet chipped in. "What did happen anyways, you never did tell me when we first met."

"Well after I saw vids of you and your, other half," He said as he pointed at Sam's gauntlets. "So, I tried to see if I could find a way to copy his powers and maybe even surpass him."

"Fat chance." Gauntlet snickered. Gordon gave him a look before continuing the story.

"As I was saying, I went to the only place where that kind of power could have existed, Italy. I looked up those gauntlets of yours and managed to find the dig site they were located in. Once there I heard a voice calling out to me." Sam knew what he was talking about. It was just like when he first acquired Vulcan. "It took some digging, but I managed to find the chains of Hyperion."

"The taboo weapon crafted by Hephaestus." Gauntlet stated as Reaper started to listen. "This weapon allowed anyone to manipulate fire and metal and also to control light."

"So, I brought it back to my boss's labs and we were able to melt it down and combined it with a few biomechanical upgrades we turned Hyperion into project Chainarm." He held up his armor cladded as the two warriors looked at it in awe. That was until a though came across Reaper's head.

"I take it your test didn't go as well as you had hoped." Reaper insinuated.

"That's putting it mildly." Gordon snorted. "The first minute I activated it I torched the whole damn lab along with a few scientist."

"Shit, what did you do then?" Gauntlet asked.

"I got the hell out of there." He said, running his left hand through his hair. "My contract was terminated and I've been trying to see if I could raise enough money to fund my biomechanical projects."

"Well if you're looking to create billion dollar projects that will never see the light of day while risking your life at night for no reward, we have a spot on the Shadow Warriors if you're interested."

Gordon looked a little stunned, just a few minutes ago he was rummaging around a crack den hoping to get a few dollars, now he was being offered a job. He knew what the Shadow Warriors were about and he knew if his half-brother was aboard with them than he could probably fit in as well. Besides, Sam was all the family he had left he wanted to get back with him for some time.

"Okay, I'm in."

Reaper patted his shoulder as did Sam as they quickly walked off into the night.

"It's great to have you on the team, Gordon." Sam said.

"Call me, Phanes."

(!)

Jayden and the rest of the team were debriefing their new members of the team. He was telling them about the rules and the regulations of being a member of the team. The three seemed to get a quick understanding and decided to come up with code names.

"So Xander," Shadow said to the young male. "You said that you were saved by Zatanna and also trained by her and her father?"

"Yes, they saved me from Klarion, who was experimenting on me." He explained. "He was trying to syphon out my magic energy hoping to strengthen his own dark powers."

"And Zatanna and her father found you and knew what you were." Surge said.

"Yes, and I was grateful, until I found out what I was." Xander said in a low voice. "You see I come from a family of witch hunters since the dark ages obviously. My mother was a part of that order and her assignment was to hunt and kill Klarion the witch boy."

"Klarion," Shadow exclaimed. "He's a freaking sadist is she insane?"

"Apparently, seeing how she didn't care that she was pregnant with me."

Shadow and the rest of the crew chose to remain silent. Mystico stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, his green eyes looking into her brown eyes.

"Klarion, he placed a curse on me in hopes of devouring my soul. My mother stayed hidden for years until Vandal Savage helped Klarion find me. My mother was killed and Klarion kidnapped me, slowly devouring my soul before Zatanna and Zatara saved me."

"That's terrible," Mystico sympathized. "But why are you black listed?"

"Because of my curse!" He snapped. He startled a few of the warriors Surge had some power surging in his hands while Shadow reached for his sword. Mystico gave them a glare warning them to stay back as Xanders continued his rant.

"I was given the same powers as Klarion, but at the cost of my soul if I ever exert myself. I have a limit to my powers, too much use of them and my soul will slowly disappear until my body is nothing but an empty shell. I asked Zatanna to help me, but she refused to help me when I planned on killing Klarion."

"So she blacklisted you." Hitgirl stated.

"After, she threatened to have me locked up."

"And now you are on your own." Shadow finished. "Now you have a choice."

"Join you or die?"

"What, no geez, you can join us or leave. All we ask is that you pull your weight and work together as a team if you choose to join." Shadow stated.

"Alright, I'll do it, and my alias is Dark Magician."

(!)

Evelyn and Estella were both seated at the kitchen counter, eating a delicious stew Ally had prepared for them, while feeding her own children. Estella was eating her food graciously while Evelyn devoured her meal like a feral beast. She didn't even burp out a thank you.

"Um, thank you Mrs. Warney." Estella said with a shy smile. Ally smiled at her as she rocked baby Jake in her arms. Shauna swerved around in her stool looking into Estella's eyes. She caught a glimpse in her peripherals and quickly looked away. Ally saw this and patted her daughters shoulder.

"Baby don't stare, it's rude." She scolded.

"But I like her eyes, they are very pretty mommy." Shauna said.

Estella blushed and looked away embarrassed. She had many people give her disgruntled looks about her eyes. They would call her freak and monster behind her back and under their breath, but this was the first time she had ever gotten a compliment.

"Thank you." She muttered.

"So, what exactly is this all about exactly?" Evelyn asked. "I mean the food is good, but why did your boy toy drag us down here?"

Ally was doing her best to keep her calm in front of her kids. She didn't want to risk giving them nightmares about their mother beating a young woman in such a feral matter. So she bit her tongue and kept up her motherly attitude.

"First off, his name is Jayden and he is my husband." She said as politely as she could. "Second, we didn't drag you down here you came here of your own free will."

"Well, I don't know if I am ready to be a part of your little screwed up family." She snorted. Ally was ready to snap when Sarah beat her to it.

"So are you always this mean, or is this just an act?" She asked politely. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at her.

"I could ask you the same thing. When I met you, you were snapping at me and beating down those punks at the bank. Then the mask comes off and you offer me stew and smile at me."

"I have a personality disorder which I developed after my parents were brutally murdered, what's your excuse?" She said bluntly. Evelyn let out a heavy sigh.

"I was a normal girl up until I was seventeen and I was kidnapped by god knows what Government organization. I spent the next five years being tortured and experimented on with a few other kids along with some aliens. Then one day our captors finally decided we were no longer worth the effort and decided to just start killing us. One by one they were all killed right before me, so I killed them all."

The girls remained silent. They both know what kind of evil exists in the world. Ally swore her life to helping girls like her. So she decided to lighten up a bit.

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"And what organization where they?" Sarah asked.

"And why do you wear that wig?" Shauna asked.

"Shauna!" Ally scolded.

"It's okay I wear the wig because it disguises my appearance from the bad guys." She said sweetly. "As for both my parents and the creeps who took me captive, I don't know."

"Well, I think Jayden can help you out with that, both of you." Ally reassured both Evelyn and Estella.

"Thank you." Estella said.

"Yeah, okay I'll join."

"Cool, what are your code names?" Shauna asked.

"Wha-?" Evelyn asked, amused at the young girls nativity.

"Well, what do you think they should be?" Estella asked.

Shauna had a contemplative look on her face as she placed a finger on her chin. She shook her head and muttered to herself for a minute before her mother whispered in her ear. Shauna had a big smile on her face and pointed at Estella.

"You should be called Monarch, because of how you can control things," She then points at Evelyn. "And you should be called Vendetta, because of your bad attitude."

Evelyn grumbled under her breath and Estella clapped her hands together happy at the young girls positive attitude.

"Those are really cool names Shauna." Sarah said, hugging the girl close.

"Yeah, real cool." Evelyn muttered sarcastically. Ally kissed the top of her head and patted her back.

"Okay you, time for bed."

"Kay mommy, night guys!" She waved as Ally led her kids to bed.

"Night kiddo." Sarah said as Jayden walked into the kitchen.

"Okay, one of my sources just told me that the mutants are gathering in the scrap yard. My guess is that they are planning to take us all out. This will be a perfect chance to make our bones."

"I'm in." Evelyn said.

"Me too." Estella said as she stood up from her seat.

"Okay, go see Reaper. He'll get you fitted with some gear." Jayden explained. They quickly got up and left, leaving Jayden and Ally alone. Guilt plagued Jayden's conscious since the whole reason of giving up Shadow was for his kids. He needed to clear things up with Ally.

"Ally, look I know I kind of rushed this, but I just couldn't do it." Jayden admitted weakly. "I tried to live a normal life and keep our kids away from what we were, but in the end I just failed."

Ally said nothing and Jayden was on the edge. He wanted to keep up what he was doing before, but not at the cost of his family. Ally walked over and placed a small kiss on his cheek, lifting Jayden from his funk.

"I know you couldn't, and I know you've been on edge lately since Batman left to deal with the Light. I never wanted to keep you from helping people, but I just don't want Shadow taking over our lives." Ally said. She was still rocking little Jake in her arms as Jayden ran his hand down his cheek.

"You and the kids are always my top priority, always." Jayden said sternly as he looked into her eyes. "I just don't want them to end up on the news with the rest of those poor children."

"I know, and I keep tabs on any other heroes that might be out there." Ally said.

The two shared in a passionate kiss for a moment before Jayden pulled away and ran off to the boom tube. He gave Ally a reassuring smile as he left his family to protect Gotham.

(!)

Shadow had his team flying over the junkyard as everyone was getting ready for their fight. Reaper twirled his two sickles in his hands before latching them to his belt. He then slipped his arms through the sleeves of his duster and finally putting on his black helmet with a holographic light of a skull on front.

Vendetta was given a fire resistant cloak and was shredding the edges, giving it a more 'badass look' as she said. She then slapped on the bullet proof plates along her legs and arms, before putting her hood up.

Monarch's outfit was more flexible than Vendetta's. She wore a black spandex top with matching boots that went up to her knees. She wore red elbow length gloves and a skirt that left little to imagination. Ally defiantly outdid herself this time.

Dark Magician wore a black cloak and Frightmare wore a simple mask, similar to his fathers.

Gauntlet had introduced his brother to everyone before Shadow finished explaining his plans.

"Okay, when we get down there I want Surge, D.M and Monarch to take care of the guns. Then when they have lost all their fire power the rest of us will go in and hit them hard. No killing unless you have too though, lets prove that we can stay our hand this time around."

"Okay, so go in kick ass and get out, got it." Specter said.

"It's time to make our bones again people, so let's do it and do it right this time around."

"Right." Everyone said.

Down below, over one hundred mutant gang members all rallied and cheered at their leader who stood in the center of the junk yard. He stood eight feet tall and was built like a monster. His teeth were even filed down making them razor sharp. He raised a large machete in his right hand, making the crowd cheer even louder.

"They think we are just a group of punk kids angry at the world," The leader shouted. "They think that we are weak, undermined thugs who are consumed by money and greed, but no longer will they think that. From this point on, we are the future of Gotham!"

The crowd roared in approval, while the leader grinned. Blood dripped through his teeth as he looked down at his men. They were all armed with Alden's weapons, which were sold by Phantom and they were wielded by the angriest, blood thirsty group of rouges to ever exist.

They all felt invincible under their leader's guide, until a large black jet materialized from behind him. Everyone looked up in shock as the bright lights shined into their eyes.

"Mutants, the future of Gotham is before you," Shadow's voice boomed over the loud speaker. "Surrender and you won't be harmed. Fight and you will wish you had surrendered. Make your choice."

The mutants had made their choice when they unloaded every bullet and rocket they had. Inside the cockpit Shadow shook his head in disappointment as he motioned for Monarch and the rest to come forward.

Using her telekinesis, Monarch levitated their weapons out of each of their hands. Surge quickly flew out of the side exit and used his power of magnetism to pull the rocket launchers out of their hands. Dark Magician raised his staff and turned the remaining guns into snakes and watched as they restricted the young rebels.

"Warriors, attack!"

Everyone soon rushed out of the Raven and unleashed everything they had on the mutants. Hitgirl and Reaper used their close quarter's combat skills to disarm and cut down any mutants that came their way. Years of training and studying human anatomy has taught them where to cut without killing them.

Reaper, with his new sickles, sliced through their melee weapons, which consisted of crowbars and machetes, and chopped off their limbs as well. Maybe having a stump for an arm would teach them from right from wrong.

Hitgirl was slicing across their shoulders and stomachs, bringing the punks to their knees. She was unaware of the snipers who were taking aim at her and Reaper. They were about to fire when Specter and Dark Magician jumped down and started taking them down.

D.M smacked his staff across their faces and jabbed the end into their chest knocking them down left and right. Specter Threw a few throwing stars their way as well. They struck their hands and knees, each letting out a scream as they fell to the ground.

Surge and Mystico blasted electrical attacks, stunning large groups of mutants while Thanatos took a lot of fire. Thanks to his armor he was unharmed. The mutants didn't stand a chance against him. Gauntlet and Phanes used their power of fire to scorch their legs. Whenever mutants got close to them Gauntlet would use his iron fist to knock them out while Phanes fired stun bolts from his chain arm.

"You ever want any upgrades for your piece of crap armor, just beg me for them and I can make you almost as cool as me." Phanes gloated. Gauntlet glared at him and pointed his right hand at Phanes. With a flick of his wrist he manipulated the heat throughout Phanes arm and made his fist smack into his face.

"If you can make me hit myself like that, then I will beg you for your crappy upgrades." Gauntlet grinned.

"Dick." Phanes grunted as he rubbed his nose.

Vendetta blocked oncoming gunfire and projectiles with her barriers allowing Frightmare to morph into a cloud of smoke. His ghost form hovered over to the pack of mutants. They started to panic at their ghostly opponent, rapidly breathing in the fear toxin as they fell to their knees screaming.

Artemis, Zoom and Whisper started beating down their opponents left and right before Zoom whirlwind around them, making the group too dizzy to fight. The three were content with their accomplishment, before Artemis was sent flying back across the scrap yard.

Whisper pulled her Eagle from her coat, but it was smack out of her hands, before a large fist was sent to her face knocking her out cold. Zoom was enraged at the assailant and charged at him with all his speed, but his blind rage made him an easy target. A large boot collided with his head and knocked him down.

His vision was blurred, but he was able to make out the disgruntled face of the Mutant Leader. The large brute overlooked his fallen army and was disappointed. Not because of their defeat, but because the Warriors didn't kill them. He found this to be a sign of weakness.

He looked up at the top of a hill and saw the leader, Shadow, standing above him. The Mutant Leader grinned as he pointed his machete at the leader.

"All this power and all this is what you do with it?" He snapped. "I heard you were a vicious killer, a warrior and you stay your hand. What kind of man are you?"

"A man who prefers to humiliate rather than kill." Shadow gloated. "The dead don't suffer, but the living do."

"You worm, you child!" The Leader shouted. "I call you a coward. I'll kill you and eat your heart, prove that you can kill me, prove you can take me."

"No, I won't kill you, but I will kick your ass!"

Shadow leaped down and drop kicked the Leader in his face knocking him back. The Leader wiped the blood from his nose and grinned, his shark teeth shined through the darkness.

He raised his machete and brought it down on Shadow, who quickly raised his sword and blocked his attack. The Leader caught him off guard though and swiped his leg at the side of Shadow's waist. The warriors let out a grunt when he felt the kick at the side of his waist and was thrown back by the leader.

Shadow landed in the muck and mud, but quickly got up before the leader could strike again. Shadow raised his knee and caught the Leader's nose before swinging his leg around and landed a kick to the side of his head.

The Leader staggered back, but Shadow was surprised when he heard him chuckling.

"What was that is that all you got?" The leader taunted.

Shadow was furious and realized that this guy wasn't going to be beaten with a swift strike or an honorable stance. This guy needed a good ass kicking. Shadow sheathed his sword before yanking it of his belt and throwing it to the side. This wasn't going to be a fight, it was going to be a brawl.

Shadow charged at the Leader and rammed his shoulder into his stomach. Shadow heard the Leader let out a gasp, before delivering an uppercut to his face. Shadow landed a few quick jabs to his stomach before feeling a grip around his wrist.

The Leader then threw Shadow over his shoulder and slammed him on the ground hard. This time the wind was knocked out of Shadow as he felt a heavy foot stomp down onto his stomach.

Shadow felt weak from the impact, but counted each strike. On the third strike, he raised his hand and opened his palm against the back of the mutant Leaders knee. The Leader felt something stab him and he quickly jumped away only to fall limp on the ground.

His right leg was now wounded and weak from the stab wound as he looked up at Shadow, who had a red spike poking out from the bottom of his palm.

"A hidden blade, clever." The Leader grunted.

"I'm always prepared for a situation." Shadow grunted as the spike slipped back into his hand. "And I take whatever space I can get."

Shadow charged at the Leader and swung his fist across his face, feeling the bones break against his fist and the bloods splash against his face. He hated it all, but only because he missed it so much.

The Leader raised his large hand and swung his sharpened nails at Shadow, only to be caught and broken. Shadow had snapped his wrist in half. The Leader screamed in pain while falling to the ground. Shadow continued his assault, pounding his fist into his face until it was a broken mess.

Soon he noticed the Leader wasn't making any noise anymore and quickly stopped his assault. He stood on his feet, over the brute and looked down at how pathetic he now looked. It was at that moment he knew that the mutants were finished.

He was soon joined by the rest of his team. Reaper walked over and handed him his sword back. Everyone was excited from their victory and started to grin and laugh.

"I can't believe we did it. We won!" Frightmare cheered.

"And we didn't take a single life." D.M commented.

"I gotta say this was a good battle. It's been a while since I sweat like that." Vendetta chuckled.

"Well get ready." Shadow grunted. His eyes were trained on the sky. "We're not done yet."

Curious, everyone looked up at the sky as well and instantly their joy was turned to either panic of rage. They had stopped an army of punks without taking a single life and they were prepared for whatever they could throw at them.

What they weren't prepared for was the entire Justice League, floating above them.

This night was far from over.


	5. Chapter 5: Not Yours

**Chapter 5: Not Yours **

**Authors Note: Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah or whatever it is you guys celebrate. Here is my next chapter for our assassins. No new characters this chapter but there will be next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the JLA**

* * *

Fate has its moments in life where it can lead to something good or something bad. It can lead you to fame and fortune or broke and forgetful, it can lead you into happiness and love or loneliness and regret. Jayden remembered one day when fate turned the bright boy wonder Sparrow into a vengeful assassin, Shadow.

He knew there would be risks and blow backs to his plans of reuniting the crew and taking down the mutants. That is strictly why he didn't want any bloodshed, to show that they can be just as good as the Justice League.

The look in Batman's eyes was never happy, but Jayden knew when he was angry. So he arranged a sit down with the head league members while he and his head warriors gathered in the war room of the HQ.

It was Shadow, Gauntlet, Reaper, Surge and Thanatos and from the J.L.A it was Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary and Martian Man Hunter. Lastly from the minor leagues were Aqualad, Ms. Martian, Superboy, Nightwing.

"So, can we please get this sit down over with?" Gauntlet asked.

"Very well, you guys need to go back into retirement." Superman said in a stern tone. Surge let out a hysterical chuckle.

"Sure, right after you get on your knees and suck my-"

"Surge," Shadow snapped. Surge calmed down and remained silent as Shadow turned to the League. "Though he has a point, we saved Gotham from the Mutants after you left them high and dry and this is our thanks?"

"As far as we're concerned you're no different than the government folks who hunted us and the cops who always keep getting in our way." Reaper said.

"Maybe they wouldn't have you stopped if you didn't kill hundreds of people every week!" Canary snapped.

"I don't see how it's any different from what the Government boys do!" Surge snapped. "Hell they created me and Thanatos and half our team with their secret experiments!"

"Not to mention the government project Surge was a part of was organized to kill you. We still didn't get a thank you for taking them out for you." Thanatos snorted. Batman and Nightwing both glared at him as Aqualad tried to solve things diplomatically.

"Jayden, what we are trying to say is that you and your team had to go into hiding, because you were too hostile." He said calmly. "We did not leave you or Gotham or anyone for that matter unprotected. In fact we spent the first three years of your retirement trying to convince the diplomats down in Washington to revoke their warrants for your arrests."

"Well, that brings back all the innocents you left to die, doesn't it?" Reaper growled. "You know a lot of children were abducted and murdered because of you. The Mrs. and I were planning on having kids real soon. I wonder if they were born would they have even lived to see first grade if we didn't make a comeback tonight?"

"You're blowing things out of proportion." Batman snapped. "Don't let past grudges cloud your judgment."

"According to our records you're the reason those past grudges happened to begin with." Reaper snapped back.

"It's what made us who we are." Gauntlet said.

"Look we are getting nowhere so let us cut to the chase." Shadow said. "We are not going back into hiding. If you want to stop us then make a move, if not then get the hell out of our way."

Batman and Shadow stared daggers at each other. Shadow wouldn't mind having a go at Batman. Hell his whole crew was itching to get their pent up rage out of their systems, but Superman being the peacekeeper in the group, stepped between the two and said his piece.

"We aren't here to fight." He warned. "But the government officials won't stand for this. They will see you as an endangerment to the people of Gotham and they will ask us to assist in taking you down."

Shadow said nothing. With a snap of his fingers the large doors opened revealing all of the warriors standing proud behind their leader.

"Kal, my men know what is at stake and we know who will be knocking on our door when the shit hits the fan. So don't make threats and don't make assumptions and sure as hell don't think we're under your boot. I decided what the warriors do not the justice league. I make the decisions not you or Batman and I decided who stays and who goes not Dick's fucking little boy scouts." Shadow snarled that last remark as he scowled at Nightwing who returned the scowl with his own.

"It's my team not yours."

Superman said nothing, no one did. Batman turned away and stormed out of the room as did everyone else.

"This isn't the end is it?" Thanatos said.

"Nope, but for now we continue on, business as usual." Shadow stated.

Shadow and the warriors followed the league outside. Shadow could feel a pair of eyes on him as he glanced over at Dusk and Star. He didn't even bother giving them a courtesy nod or even look them in the eyes. As far as he was concerned they were dead to him.

"Jayden, something is going on in Hong Kong." Specter informed. This piqued his interest as he turned away from the league and ran inside his headquarters. "I was waiting around with the rest of the team when the computers just started going off, it looks like a tracking beacon or something."

Shadow walked over to the monitor and saw an orange bird glyph blinking repeatedly on the digital globe on the screen. He knew this mark belong to Phoenix. He was in trouble and they were going to help their brothers in arms.

(Four hours earlier)

Blaze, Frost and Theresa were all sitting at the bar in a nightclub sipping their beverages as the dancers, if you could even call them that, they moved like they were on fire while being electrocuted at the same time.

Blaze shook his head in annoyance as he stared at his cocktail. He felt Theresa nudge him in the shoulder and turned to face her. Her eyes shined through her blonde hair.

"So what exactly are we waiting for?" She asked.

"I have a contact in Erudite Tech who can get us inside." He explained. Erudite Tech was the same as Lex corps, dark and illegal that made their fortune at the expense of human lives.

They opened up shop a few year ago outfitting military vehicles and aircraft with special weapons and tech. Their real fortune was in biological enhancements and biochemical weaponry.

Phoenix caught wind of their organization when he was a boy in his days of torment under Damian Cole. He hadn't thought about it in years, but he saw that name on a few of the syringes that were pumped into him when he was a boy. Frost and Theodosia also recognized the name and heard Luthor mention it a few times. Blaze made a few moves out in Hong Kong but was getting nowhere. He couldn't find a way to sneak in their facility without raising an alarm or alerting the JLA.

It took some time, but he was finally able to get in contact with an info broker that worked out here. He was waiting for him at the bar when someone bumped right into him. He was ready to go off on the guy when he noticed a small piece of paper on the ground. He lifted it up off of the ground and only saw a name.

"Garden Pods." Blaze read out lout. "C'mon lets go."

His friends quickly put their drinks down and rushed after him. They were soon outside and overcrowded by the swarms of the night life bystanders. It was only nine 'o'clock and the night was only getting started for some people. Frost and Theresa followed Blaze as best as they could through the crowd, but Blaze was storming through them like an angry rhino.

"Blaze." Theresa shouted over the crowd, but he was still going. He eventually led them to the slums where they saw the garden pods housing complex. "Our contact is inside. We go in get our way in and get out."

He was about to head in when Frost stopped him by grabbing his arm. Blaze snapped his head back at him and gave him a deathly glare.

"What are you doing?" Frost snapped. "You are acting too hotheaded."

"Sorry, but I need to find the dirt we need to stop Erudite. They are evil and we all know it we just need to figure out what it is they are doing."

"Fine, but if things get too hectic we get the hell out of here, got it."

"Got it, now stop wasting my time and let's go." He grunted.

Frost let out a heavy sigh as Theresa walked up to him and he turned to her.

"What is his problem?" He asked.

"He blames them for his parent's death." She said sadly. "It never ended with Cole's death he wanted to bring down everyone who wronged him."

"And that's why he is so hell bent on stopping them?" He asked.

"Yes, he'll be better when we find something." She smiled as the two followed him inside.

When they entered the building they were greeted by a couple of guards armed with semi-automatic shotguns, bought by Warney-Tech no doubt.

"You got a pass?" The gruff guard asked.

"A pass?" Theresa asked.

"A pod Pass, a key card. Do you have one?"

"No, we are just here to see a friend." Blaze said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few twenties which made the guard happy and allowed them to go inside.

Inside there were multiple bystanders buying food at the deli or by clothes over at a dollar bin shack. Children were scampering and the adults were socializing. Just a bunch of lower class citizens trying to make the best of what they got.

"C'mon, he's up stairs on the third floor." Blaze said as he walked over to the staircase by the corner.

"How do you know?" Frost asked.

"He wrote down third floor on the note." He explained. "The fourth row third pod in the D wing."

"Can we trust him?"

"With my life."

They made it to the pod they were looking for to see it closed off. They hit the ringer and saw a shadow shifting around from the light. Frost was still paranoid and slipped his hand into his coat pocket, his fingers wrapping around the handle of his handgun. The door opened and the Blaze smiled at the figure inside.

"Long time no see Max." Blaze grinned.

"Shh, it's still Ronin." He whispered. Blaze had to smile at the sight of his old companion. He had his black sneaking suit on, minus the mask, and his hair was now cut short instead of being a tangled mess.

"What have you been up to?" Blaze asked.

"The same as you guys trying to crush global conglomerates all by myself." Ronin chuckled.

"Yeah, but how did you get it?" Frost asked.

"Their boss, or one of many, ordered one of their lead scientists to pick up an order of those Lion Lizard eggs from a special contact you might remember, Phantom." The three flinched when they heard that name. "Apparently he broke out of the prison planet somehow and he even brought a few souvenirs. So after he picked up the eggs I had an encounter with him in the underground tunnel and after cracking the eggs and his head I managed to get his keycard."

"Nice work, what's our next plan." Theresa asked.

"We sneak inside and find out just what the hell is going on inside. Then from there we contact the JLA and see if they can lend us a hand."

"What about the Shadow Warriors?" Frost asked. Ronin let out a grunt.

"Where have you been these past five years, they're retired remember?" He asked.

"Well this might be our chance for retribution." Blaze reassured. "We just need to-"

He was soon cut off when the roof blew open and several assailants drop down from above and landed gracefully in the main lobby. Everyone around them looked at them curiously before the assailants pulled out their assault rifles and executed everyone around them.

The warriors couldn't believe what they were seeing and quickly hid behind the railing. Ronin quickly ran over to his pod and grabbed a couple of assault rifles and gave them to Blaze and frost.

"Who the fuck, are these guys?" Frost snapped as he inspected the clip.

"My guess is the polite people who I stole secret government property from sent a few goons to straighten us out." Ronin grunted. He pulled out his saber blades as he peeked over the railing. "These guys are well equipped and well organized."

Blaze looked down at the lobby and saw them reloading their weapons as a man in a white suit appeared before them.

"Phantom." Blaze whispered. He quickly pulled on his black mask with the phoenix symbol on it and listened in carefully to what he was saying.

"Okay boys listen up," He announced. "Ronin and a few of the former Shadow Warrior flunkies are in here somewhere and it is our job to take them out on sight. They have the kryptonian clone with them so leave her to me. I can take her."

"Can you now?"

Before Phantom could respond the blonde haired hero appeared before him and sent a boot into his chest, sending him flying through the lobby and into the clothing store. The troops quickly unloaded every bullet they had into her only for them to bounce off her.

She ignored every last shot as she stomped over to Phantom. Their guns clicked empty and they tried to reload but were soon gun down by Phoenix and Frost. Ronin quickly leaped down and started cutting down any troop that came near them.

Phoenix ignited his hand and fired a few fire bolts at the troops. Frost did the same as a shard of ice ripped through his knuckles and he used it to cut down anyone who came near him. He quickly looked over at a group of troops coming through the main doors and acted fast. He placed his palm against the floor and watched as the floor turned to slick ice. Once it reached the trooper's feet, spikes ripped through their feet and they all let out screams as they fell to the ground.

Theodosia stood over Phantom who was now laying in a pile of hand me down clothes. He let out a bitter laugh as he tilted his hat up and stared into Theodosia's eyes.

"Well, copycat it's good to know you haven't lost your aim." He chuckled while staggering to his feet.

"Cut the crap, what the hell was the point of all this." She snapped. She aimed her eyes at Phantom who looked the least bit threatened. "I know it wasn't about a few alien eggs."

"Please, that was ass wipe money, no you and your friends have been caught scheming to invade our corporation. We can't risk any leaks so I was sent to plug them. I mean did you're really think we weren't watching?" He asked rhetorically. "The only reason you got this far was because we needed you to lead us to Ronin."

"Well congrats, cause you found us and you're now about to die."

She fired her eye beams at him, but he proved to be more elusive than he let on. He flipped onto his side and aimed his right palm at her. Her eyes narrowed at his arm, he had lost it when Killer Croc bit it off and he lost it again when Trigon's magic left him. His palm opened up and a glowing green spike shot out and struck her in the stomach.

"Not as resilient as you use to be, huh?" He raised his left hand and back hand her to the ground.

She tried to get up but she was too weak, the kryptonite was slowly absorbing her strength and weakening her by the second. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out the long blade extending from his right arm.

"Close your eyes and count to seven when you wake you'll be in heaven." Phantom chuckled.

He raised his blade and brought it down, but was quickly stopped by Ronin. He locked blades with the warriors before being kicked back onto the ground.

Ronin quickly collected Theodosia and ran out through the basement doors with Phoenix and Frost following after. Phantom let out an angry huff before standing back up and straightening his suit.

"Another time assholes."

(!)

A few blocks away under the streets, the warriors trekked through the underground caverns of the sewers after pulling out the shard of kryptonite from her gut. She was now being carried piggy back by Phoenix while Ronin went on ahead.

"Max, we have to call it in." Blaze shouted ahead. "They know we're coming it's gonna take more than some fancy stealth moves to bring down these guys and we don't have the weapons or man power to pull it off."

"Fine, call it in but they won't answer." Ronin said bitterly.

Blaze pressed the emergency beacon on his belt and waited for a response. The belt blinked repeatedly, but Blaze wasn't getting a response on his phone. He could see the smug look on Ronin's face. He was about to say something when he was cut off by his ringing phone. His fingers were shaking with anxiety as he answered the call and held the phone to his ear.

"Jayden…" He whispered in a shaky breath.

"Get to the docks. We're coming to help you."


End file.
